Life really does get cooking at this time of year… kind of literally. I’m usually pulling out of my winter hibernation just in time for yom tov cooking/baking, first in a fun Purim way and then in a dead-serious Pesach way.

This carnival is about all things kosher and cooking. If your blog is, too, or if you’ve blogged about kosher food on another blog, then you’re welcome to join us!

What we’re eating

First of all, with Pesach on the way, you should be inventorying your food and trying to use up what you’ve got. If you haven’t already, there’s still time to start, as Batya does at her blog me-ander in Pre-Passover Inventory Time. She says, “Sometimes I'm totally amazed at what has been stored away all year waiting for a special occasion.”

Latkes, wine, brisket, and a new glatt-kosher meal ingredient home-delivery kit? (I wonder if they deliver to Israel?!?) It’s all packed into the review of This Week in Kosher Food Trends by Shannon Sarna of The Nosher. “I went home happy, full, a little buzzed and inspired from the innovative approaches to Jewish food.”

On her new macrobiotic cooking/eating/thinking blog, Jerusalem MacroLovers, Klara discusses how cooking is so much more than just having the right recipes in Is Cooking Magical?? She says, “My ideal kind of a cooking class is where first the teacher demonstrates, then the student goes home to practice, then comes back to class and does it again.”

What we’re drinking

It’s sort of like alchemy, really… you take oats, which is essentially horse food, and you turn it into pure, hearty breakfast yumminess.

If you’re thinking of starting to make your own granola, this is one of those “old favourite” recipes you’ll want to keep handy.

This picture here of the ingredients highlights the truly “no-frills” alchemy of this recipe: crafting a premium product out of all these yellow-label groceries. (the brown sugar and a couple of other things that aren’t packed in yellow were left out of the photo)

I’ve made this granola many, many times now. I’m still searching for a source of milk powder (skim or otherwise) in Israel, because now I miss it… a lot. Plus, storebought granola is pretty expensive here, while oats are relatively cheap.

I was surprised the first few times that I liked it so much; I’m not a huge granola fan. Before I made this, I tried the Artisan Bread in Five Granola (the granola is meant to be used to make yummy Granola Bread!), but to be honest, I wasn’t that inspired by it. This one DID inspire me.

What’s the difference?

In this recipe, it’s the milk powder that MAKES the granola. It makes the granola sort of clump together the same way Quaker Harvest Crunch does – delicious clusters of pure homemade crunchy deliciousness. If you don’t have powdered milk or don’t want to make a dairy granola – ie, for baking – then stick with the ABin5 recipe; it’s very good. Otherwise, try this one – it’s GREAT!

I recommend that you not double the recipe. The single one makes a decent quantity, and it doesn’t keep long. Plus, my family gets sick of eating the same thing surprisingly quickly. This is so fast to throw together that you can always whip up more if it vanishes. (If you have a big family, I suppose you could double it, but keep in mind that you’ll need to spread it out flat to bake properly in the oven.)

I've been on a bean kick this winter. So when I wanted an out-of-the-ordinary side dish that would double as something appealing and warm that I could offer the kids when they came home on a blustery, rainy day, I decided this Caribbean-style rice would be incredible.

I'm calling it “Caribbean-style” (sorta Caribbean) because I've never had ACTUAL Caribbean rice. And I didn't follow the recipes I found online (mainly this one) to the letter.

2017 UPDATE! Watch me make a quick-n-easy variation of this recipe that you can throw together in under half an hour:

Most of the recipes I found are spicier than my family likes, although one I found suggests cooking the pepper without opening it (do not peel, seed, chop etc, just toss it in whole), which apparently adds warmth without spicy violence. Sounds like a great hack if I ever feel like pushing the envelope.

I know I’ve been doing a lot of soups lately. Forgive me… it’s winter and I could not be happier.

Before we moved to Israel, we got used to inaugurating Soup Season at Sukkos and finishing sometime after Pesach. Here, Soup Season is way shorter – more like December to February than October to April. So little time, and so many soups to cram in while we’re still shivering.

This Zucchini-Potato Soup is pareve because it gets its creaminess from pureeing potatoes. It is super-fast, mainly because you make it in a small batch. It can easily be doubled, tripled, etc., to serve a crowd.

Did I mention that my daughter is nine? She found this herself in the cookbook and has actually made it entirely by herself, except for the pureeing part at the end.

If you are just starting out on the soup-making journey, this is the perfect soup for you to start with. It can be anything you want it to be. You don’t taste the zucchini, which is perfect, because most of us here don’t love zukes.

If you want something with a stronger flavour, add broccoli and boil it a little longer. For a bit of colour, add a carrot instead. This soup essentially cannot be ruined.

It’s adapted from Gatherings: the Netivot HaTorah Day School Cookbook, which is a terrific, sensible cookbook now published by Feldheim. I am actually mentioned near the back – under my previous name - because I was on the original committee. (I don’t think I actually did anything, but it’s nice to get credit!)

The theme of Purim is “venahafoch hu” – it was overturned. Everything is flipped around at this busy, zany, fun time of year… including the tedium of using the same traditional recipes, year in and year out.

There’s a time for “moon and prune” (the traditional poppy and prune fillings), of course.

But why not turn to one of these jaw-dropping new creations to discover a brand-new favourite you can proudly share with family and friends? There’s certainly plenty here to choose from…

Shh… let me tell you a secret: I don’t like peanuts, so I always make this with almonds instead.

I toast them in the oven ahead of time, because it really helps intensify the flavour. No salt or oil; just almonds in a tinfoil pan. Toasting won’t bring back rancid almonds, but it can perk up the ones that taste like they’ve been on a supermarket shelf in a plastic container for a bit too long. I also cut the almonds in half, because a whole almond is overwhelming in brittle.

NOTE: Measure all the ingredients before you start!

As with other types of candy-making, things move pretty quickly once you reach your target temperature. Also, forget about the “drop” method – hard ball, soft crack, and whatnot - or any other you’ve read about for checking the temperature – just use a thermometer!

Even though Israel is technically IN Asia, it’s tough to get authentic-tasting Asian food here. Takeout places are hit and miss, mostly on the “miss” side of things… as in, I totally MISS delicious hot and sour soup. Yes, it looks disgusting (if you make it right). But the mix of flavours, of sweet, spicy, pungent, salty… well, it’s divine.

(And on the plus side, the hottest thing in Tel Aviv is kosher dim sum, and it actually tastes okay, so I guess I shouldn’t complain too much.)

Still, while the cool weather lasts a little longer here, I thought I’d share one of my all-time favourite soup recipes – to make, to share, to just lean over and inhale. It’s very, very fragrant. You can adjust the hotness and sourness to suit your family’s taste.

RECIPE DISCLAIMER:

As with most of my favourite easy soups, this recipe is an approximation, not an actual scientific calculation of ingredients and quantities. Play with it. Have fun, and taste it as you go along, and the results will be edible at worst and mind-blowing at best!

But you have to swear you won’t tell. These are my mother’s top-secret recipe, which was my grandmother’s top-secret recipe before that… which may not not really be all that secret after all.

I wish I had a great picture to show you, but believe me, these turn out looking beautiful. Every time I make them, they go so quickly that there’s no chance to take a picture.

So now, like me, you can make Pralined Pecans (or pralined almonds, as I did during Pesach) any day… or any night! Anytime, really. They are super super easy. And they always turn out well, despite my occasional neglect – crystally and nice and nostalgic.